This first book of the internationally bestselling trilogy captures the life and love of the lost Inca civilization in all its savagery, and spirituality. Anamaya, daughter of an Incan princess, is conferred with the mysteries of the Inca Gods by the dying King. From now on, she will be the guardian of the Incan Empire. Yet, with no clear successor to the throne, the death of the King brings uncertainty to the Empire.

In sixteenth-century Peru, as Huayna Capac, king of the Incas, dies, he confides the mysteries of other worlds and the Inca Gods to Anamaya, daughter of an Incan princess. After his death she is the guardian of the Empire. But Anamaya cannot remember these secrets when Atahualpa, the king's chosen successor, asks for guidance. Although she knows they are within her, the only concrete reminder is the black puma spirit which prowls around her at night. In Spain, Francisco Pizarro has returned from his first voyage to Peru and seeks the king's permission to conquer this new land and be named its governor. When he sails, amongst the 180 men who accompany him is Gabriel Montelucar y Flores, a young nobleman who has escaped the clutches of the Inquisition. As the journey continues, first by sea and then overland in Peru, Gabriel will play a role he could never imagine, and become a linchpin both for Pizarro and Anamaya. Epic and unforgettable, it captures the Incas in all their splendour, savagery and spirituality - and the determination and ruthlessness of the Spanish conquistadors. And it is a classic novel of love across religious and cultural boundaries.

This magnificent epic of the forbidden love between an Incan princess with supernatural powers and a Spanish nobleman reaches its stunning climax in THE LIGHT OF MACHU PICCHU. After three years of foreign occupation, the Incas are finally ready to launch their counter-offensive against the Conquistadors. The Spaniards, who consider their conquered foe to be wholly cowed and beaten, are unprepared for this massive counter-attack. The ensuing conflict will be apocalyptical, with Anamaya on one side and her lover, Gabriel Montelucar y Flores on the other. Can Anamaya persuade Gabriel to switch sides for her? And wil their love be strong enough to change the very destiny of the Inca race?

A groundbreaking work on how the topic of scale provides an entirely new understanding of Inca material culture Although questions of form and style are fundamental to art history, the issue of scale has been surprisingly neglected. Yet, scale and scaled relationships are essential to the visual cultures of many societies from around the world, especially in the Andes. In Scale and the Incas, Andrew Hamilton presents a groundbreaking theoretical framework for analyzing scale, and then applies this approach to Inca art, architecture, and belief systems. The Incas were one of humanity's great civilizations, but their lack of a written language has prevented widespread appreciation of their sophisticated intellectual tradition. Expansive in scope, this book examines many famous works of Inca art including Machu Picchu and the Dumbarton Oaks tunic, more enigmatic artifacts like the Sayhuite Stone and Capacocha offerings, and a range of relatively unknown objects in diverse media including fiber, wood, feathers, stone, and metalwork. Ultimately, Hamilton demonstrates how the Incas used scale as an effective mode of expression in their vast multilingual and multiethnic empire. Lavishly illustrated with stunning color plates created by the author, the book's pages depict artifacts alongside scale markers and silhouettes of hands and bodies, allowing readers to gauge scale in multiple ways. The pioneering visual and theoretical arguments of Scale and the Incas not only rewrite understandings of Inca art, but also provide a benchmark for future studies of scale in art from other cultures.

"When an Inca shamanic priestess learns of an ancient prophecy that white men from across the sea will murder or enslave her people and cause her gods to be forgotten, she reluctantly accepts taht her destiny is to prevent the Spaniards' discovery of Machu Picchu, the cradle of her Inca faith. But her task becomes all the more difficult when she befriends two Spaniards: one, a handsome young conquistador; and the other, a dying Catholic priest who comes to her for a cure--a cure she knows can only take place within the confines of the sacred city."--Jacket flap

'A superb work of narrative history' Antonia Fraser On 25 September 1513, a force of weary Spanish explorers cut through the forests of Panama and were confronted with an ocean: the Mar del Sur, or the Pacific Ocean. Six years later the Spaniards had established the town of Panama as a base from which to explore and exploit this unknown sea. It was the threshold of a vast expansion. From the first small band of Spanish adventurers to enter the mighty Inca empire, to the execution of the last Inca forty years later, The Conquest of the Incas is a story of bloodshed, infamy, rebellion and extermination, told as convincingly as if it happened yesterday. 'It is a delight to praise a book of this quality which combines careful scholarship with sparkling narrative skill' Philip Magnus, Sunday Times 'A superbly vivid history' The Times

Machu Picchu, recently voted one of the New Wonders of the World, is one of the world's most famous archaeological sites, yet it remains a mystery. Even the most basic questions are still unanswered: What was its meaning and why was it built in such a difficult location? Renowned explorer Johan Reinhard attempts to answer such elusive questions from the perspectives of sacred landscape and archaeoastronomy. Using information gathered from historical, archaeological, and ethnographical sources, Reinhard demonstrates how the site is situated in the center of sacred mountains and associated with a sacred river, which is in turn symbolically linked with the sun's passage. Taken together, these features meant that Machu Picchu formed a cosmological, hydrological, and sacred geological center for a vast region.

This volume explores how visual arts functioned in the indigenous pre- and post-conquest New World as vehicles of social, religious, and political identity.